Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Why Barack Obama Manufactured This Crisis With Israel

Last night Barack Obama met with Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu. It was very obvious that there was no easing of tensions between the two allies. Neither leader said as much, but the news blackout about the meeting is unusual. Such high-level meetings are generally followed by pubic handshakes, and often by joint statements. Obama met with Netanyahu for about an hour and a half, took a break as the session moved to the Roosevelt Room and continued with White House aides. After the break, Netanyahu and the US president returned to the Oval Office for another 35 minutes. Then Netanyahu was lead out the same way he was lead in very quietly.

The frosty Obama/Netanyahu personal relations is a result of a crisis which was manufactured by Barack Obama as a way to isolate the Jewish State and serve it up on a silver platter to his allies in the Muslim world. Yes I know the President keeps talking about the "shared interests" and "friendship" but this President is an expert in saying one thing and doing another.

The official story, the one you hear in the press, is the U.S. wants a freeze on new housing units in East Jerusalem and the West Bank as a way to bring Palestinians back to the bargaining table for renewed peace talks. The truth is that these housing developments started decades before Bibi took over as PM in 2009 and negotiations were taking place all during that period. In fact last year (2009) was the first year out of the past 17 years that there has been no negotiations between the Israelis and Palestinians. The ONLY difference between last year and the previous 16 is that the Obama administration is demanding that Israeli stop building new housing units in existing settlements.

Obama is pressuring Israel despite the fact that last year Mahmoud Abbas declared in the Washington Post that he would never recognize Israel as a Jewish state, and that he would not lift a finger to peacemaking. Abbas basically said that Bibi would capitulate or he would wait until a Bibi/Obama split brings down the Netanyahu government.

Obama is putting the entire burden on Israel and the "settlements". No reciprocal demand is made of the Palestinians.

In his demands Obama has refused to recognize existing agreements between the two countries saying that Israel would be permitted to expand existing communities. In fact the Obama administration refused to admit they ever existed. That lie was refuted by was disputed by former Asst. Secretary of State Elliot Abrams who negotiated that agreement with Israel:

On settlements we also agreed on principles that would permit some continuing growth. Mr. Sharon stated these clearly in a major policy speech in December 2003: "Israel will meet all its obligations with regard to construction in the settlements. There will be no construction beyond the existing construction line, no expropriation of land for construction, no special economic incentives and no construction of new settlements." Ariel Sharon did not invent those four principles. They emerged from discussions with American officials and were discussed by Messrs. Sharon and Bush at their Aqaba meeting in June 2003. " Stories in the press also made it clear that there were indeed "agreed principles." On Aug. 21, 2004 the New York Times reported that "the Bush administration . . . now supports construction of new apartments in areas already built up in some settlements, as long as the expansion does not extend outward."

None of this should be surprising, during the campaign, many of us were jumping up and down screaming about Barack Obama's anti-Israel history. Unfortunately Jewish thought leaders such as Ed Koch, Marty Peretz, and Alan Dershowitz all told us that our claims were nonsense. Now that he as been elected the evidence is all there, Barack Obama is doing his best to delegitimize Israel. Look at what has happened during his first 15 months as President:

His first week in office when he sat down with Al-Arabiya Arab TV, Ignored Palestinian Terror and indicated that the Israeli government had no desire for peace.

His Naming of Samantha Power to a key NSA position. Ms Power has suggested that America invade Israel to enforce a peace plan.

And of course there is the appeasement of Iran, and the current manufactured crisis.

Now that he is President, the reason Obama is pushing for peace so hard is he knows it is unattainable. It is the very failure of his effort that gives Obama the excuse to bash Israel and isolate her, and at the same time, working with Progressive Members of Congress such as Jerrold Nadler, and Steve Israel remain silent in an attempt to split up the Jewish community. This exactly what he is doing with his anti-Israel statements, anti-Israel appointments and his "mentor-ship" of J-Street.

Last October, just before the election I wrote this about Barack Obama:

Folks the truth is I had many issues with the way George W. Bush ran middle east policy. But there are a few things that are admirable. Bush was the first president that considered a terrorist attack in Israel just as bad as one elsewhere it the world. He constantly supported Israel’s right to defend itself against terror, and praised her as America’s number one ally in the Middle East. He also authorized an unprecedented level of cooperation between the U.S. military and the Israel Defense Forces including intelligence sharing, anti-terror training, and the joint development of missile defense systems.

A Barack Obama Presidency would return US/Israel relations back to the days of James Baker's "They have my number they can call me." A US trying to impose a dangerous one-sided solution on the Jewish State.

I hate admit it, but that prediction was very wrong. Barack Obama has turned out to be much worse than I could ever imagine, just examine the facts and you will agree that in only 14 months of work he is doing his best to damage the relationship between the United States and the only Democracy in the Middle East.